


Love Drought

by garden of succulents (staranise), sharlatan



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Closeted Relationship, Happy Ending, Jack never went to Samwell, M/M, Pining, Poots isn't evil he's just a young fuccboi, unhappy relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 23:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9294821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staranise/pseuds/garden%20of%20succulents, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharlatan/pseuds/sharlatan
Summary: Jack Zimmermann didn't expect to fall for his teammates boyfriend. Eric Bittle didn't expect that dating a closeted hockey player was this hard. And James Fitzgerald was unaware of everything.





	

_ Bitty cried at his own graduation, of course he did. Fitz couldn’t look away from him; from the way tears were cascading down his cheeks to the way the sunlight made his blond hair look like gold. He was so beautiful, had always been so handsome from the first time Fitz saw him during his taddy tour.  _

 

_ “Fitz!” Bitty smiled at him, “Haven’t you seen enough of me sobbing my eyes out? I know you haven’t finished packing yet.” _

 

_ “Oh, uh, I was just hanging around because...” Fitz stopped, unsure of what to say. He just couldn’t bring himself to go back to his dorm finish packing up for the move to Providence.  _

 

_ “No, I understand,” Bitty said. “It’s hard to leave Samwell behind, I should know, I’m missing this place before I even leave. But look at you, you’ll be playing in the NHL! The next time I’ll be seeing you will be on TV.” _

 

_ “No way,” Fitz said. “You’re my favorite senior, I’m definitely driving down to Boston to see you before season starts.”  _

 

_ “Oh, of course!” Bitty said. “It was great playing with you, Fitz. And don’t tell the others, but you’re my favorite frog.”  _

 

_ “You too, Bitty.” There was a moment in the air between them, when Fitz thought he was going to do something, or that Bitty was going to say something, but he let it pass as Bitty excused himself. _

 

_ What was it that Wayne Gretzky said? You miss one hundred of the shots you don’t take.  _

 

_ James Fitzgerald took off running. _

 

_/\\_ _/\\_ _/\\_ _/\\_

When they first got together, Bitty had just moved into his apartment in Boston. Fitz came to see him before training camp started and they ate takeout among half-unpacked boxes, and mostly didn’t get out of bed for three days straight.  The sex underwent a steep learning curve: nervous and awkward on Tuesday, but by Thursday, practiced and pleasurable.

 

Bitty thought about that a lot, the lonely evenings he stood in the vestibule of his boyfriend’s apartment and waited for his cab to arrive.  Poots didn’t like Bitty to stay overnight in Providence; it looked too incriminating.

 

It was just the stresses of hockey season, he told himself.  It was a rough patch he’d hold on through. When summer came, it would go back to the way it was, and it would all be better.

 

The first night he was over at Fitz’s and had been given the signal to leave, Bitty started to look up the times for trains or buses back to Boston, but Fitz took his phone and insisted on giving him a ride home. At first Bitty was charmed, but then he was looking down at a new Uber app on his phone. 

 

Fitz was almost glowing after he handed Bitty his phone back, his Uber account and card programmed into it.

 

“There, I told you I can afford all the rides to Boston you need. I’m not going to make my boyfriend take transit and pay to go back home,” he grinned.

 

Bitty would prefer it if he could stay instead of receiving an Uber account he never asked for. The overnight clothes in his bag weighed him down with unmet expectations. 

 

“Thank you, sweetheart, you’re just lovely. My considerate, generous, and lovely Jimmy.” Bitty went on his tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. “I’ll text you when I get back, I miss you already, handsome.”

 

Fitz preened, and gave Bitty one last kiss before shutting the door and going back to his bed while Bitty braved the Providence winter.

_/\\_ _/\\_ _/\\_ _/\\_

Jack nursed a glass of coke while the preseason team gathering happened around him. They were in a dimly lit club, where there’s music pounding his ears and where the under 21s are able to sneak a drink from the open bar. George thought this was a good idea to let the rookies have a bit of fun before the grueling season starts, and who was Jack to tell her no?

 

Fitzgerald, or Poots as he was beginning to be called, brought a friend with him. The friend introduced himself as Eric Bittle, but call him Bitty! 

 

Huh. That’s cute. Bitty, that’s a cute name. That’s a really cute name, and that’s a really cute person. The cute person is looking at him and smiling and speaking in a handsome southern accent. Jack subtly hung around Bitty and talked to him, and was literally a minute way from asking him if he wanted to get away and spend some time at Jack’s apartment, when Poots called his friend away. So Jack wandered around for a while, mingling with people, but he’s thinking about Eric Call Me Bitty Bittle in the back of his mind.

 

He was nursing his single non alcoholic when he walked past this dark hallway that emitted some grunts and moaning. As a good natured captain, it was basically Jack’s duty to laugh and tell the unseen lovers to get a room and have safe sex. 

 

“This is a public space, man, bring them home and use condoms!” 

 

Instead of a “FUCK OFF!” or “GO AWAY!” that he expected, he gets a yelp and subsequent bumps. Jack naturally had to go into the hallway to help them up, and that was how he saw Bitty and Poots in various states of undress and crumpled on the floor in surprise. 

 

Swear to fuck, first thing that flashes through Jack’s mind is “Oh he’s taken, well, maybe they’re just fucking and aren’t serious.” Then his captain side took over and he tried to defuse the situation of where two men are increasingly panicked over being found fucking in an abandoned hallway. This was why he lets Snowy be the social soul of the team. 

 

“First, I know what you’re thinking, so calm down. I’m not going to say anything that you don’t want me to say, okay?” Jack said, reaching out his hands to help them up. “My point from earlier still stands, don’t fuck in a public space, let’s respect the owners of this establishment.” 

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Bitty blushed, trying to get his hair and clothes in order. It was a devastatingly sexy look, one that Jack pointedly ignored because he might be dating his rookie. 

 

“Jack,” Poots stuttered, “uh, what you said about, before, did you mean that?” 

 

“Of course,” Jack said firmly. “I will definitely respect your privacy, but let me just tell you that the Falcs are an organization that will definitely be behind you one hundred percent, should you choose to tell anyone on the staff or-”

 

“No! I mean, this is just my rookie year, I don’t want anything to jeapordize it!” Poots said frantically, while Bitty also nodded his assent. Poots also had one arm around Bitty’s waist while Bitty was clinging to him, Jack noticed. So, probably not just fucking. 

 

“Okay,” Jack replied. “Then I want you to know that you can always talk to me about it. Oh, that’s Snowy calling me, have fun.”

 

He later told Poots to go ahead and give Bitty his phone number, in case anything happened on the ice and Jack will be able to contact his boyfriend. Poots didn’t say no to the boyfriend. So. That was that. 

 

Except that wasn’t that. 

 

Jack was kind of mindboggled in the days to follow because who would expect this young, yomama type of rookie to have the Perfect Boyfriend? There was a fucking chore checklist in Poots apartment that Jack is 100% sure is Bitty’s doing. Poots’ fridge was filled with food, and his phone was filled with encouragement, and his life was filled with love. There were  _ tons of post it notes _ filled with affection that Poots showed Jack in an offhanded manner when he  _ complains _ about how his PERFECT boyfriend is “too clingy” and “mothers me too much, I’m a grown man!”

 

And since Jack was the only person to know about them, he was constantly reminded about how Poots has the Most Perfect Boyfriend because he became a repository for relationship complaints. 

 

“He’s honestly kind of embarrassing sometimes, I love him, but he is.” Poots said one day, lounging in Jack’s house and playing billiards. He had come over to Jack’s apartment to deliver a pie that Bitty had baked for Jack, instead of handing it to him in the locker room in order to quell questions about where Poots gets homemade pie. “And I wish that he was more masculine, then maybe I can take him out to more team events and introduce him as a regular guy friend. The way he is, everyone can tell he’s gay, and then what would they think of me?” 

 

“They’d think that you, a former student at Samwell University, have a gay friend,” Jack snapped. 

 

“Yeah but then there’d be rumors, and I can’t have that kind of talk around me.” Poots was oblivious to Jack’s annoyance as always, still focused on the cue balls.

 

“Trust me,” Jack said, “People are a lot more dense than you think.”  

Both their phones beeped, and when they checked they saw that Snowy was texting everyone over for an impromptu team dinner. Jack internally groaned when he remembered what that was really about. His phone pinged with a private text from Snowy, telling him that he had to get Poots there, and to keep it a surprise.

 

“I guess we have to go,” Poots said. “Last time I ignored Snowy’s text, he replaced my Axe with hairspray and I had frosted armpit hair for an entire practice.” 

 

“He would have done it anyway,” Jack said, getting up from his couch. “Come on, let’s head to the club.”

 

“The club? I thought it was a dinner?” 

 

“Yeah, about that. Don’t tell Snowy I told you this, but we’re taking you rookies out to a strip joint. You should tell Bitty about that, make sure he knows where you’re at.”

 

Poots wrinkled his nose. “I don’t need to report to him about where I’m going. It’s not like I’m going to cheat on him.”

 

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. As much as he was frustrated about Poots’ lack of appreciation of his Perfect Boyfriend, he knew that Poots did love Bitty enough that cheating would never be on the table. 

 

“No one said anything about cheating, it would just be nice to know about your boyfriend going to a strip club in case he finds out about it from social media before he finds out about it from you.” 

 

“Don’t worry about it, man. Oh, we have to turn over to my place, I need my wallet and jacket.” 

 

They swung by Poots’ apartment, and the first thing Jack noticed when he opened the door was that the lights were on and Bitty was there. He looked perfect and handsome as always, obviously washed and combed; Jack could see that his hair was a little wet and his cheeks were pink from the shower. The table was set for two and he smelled food in the air.

 

“Babe! Great to see you,” Poots kissed him before heading off to find his stuff. “Snowy called for a team gathering, I can’t be here tonight, but make yourself at home and remember to turn the oven off when you leave later, okay?” 

 

Bitty stiffened, and Jack wanted so bad to sit down at the table and tell him that he didn’t need Poots, that he could have Jack there instead.

“Bits, where’s my wallet?” Poots was silently handed his wallet by Bitty, who had known exactly where it was. 

 

“Sweetie,” Bitty started, “I thought we could-”

 

“Thanks babe, bye!” He gave Bitty a cheeky kiss before pulling Jack out with him. 

  
The last thing Jack sees before the door shuts was Bitty’s face in quiet devastation. 


End file.
